Public Campaign Action Fund issued a press release today on the recent guilty plea to bribery by BAE Systems, a foreign-based company that has given heavily to Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) campaigns and received millions in earmarks.

Although earmarks make up a small amount of the federal budget, they are also the locus of many of the backroom deals between politicians and lobbyists that have corrupted Washington in recent years. This is especially true for congressional leaders like Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is better than almost anyone else at getting his way when it comes to inserting language into appropriations bills.